Saturday, February 25, 2012

Wish I could take credit for this FABULOUS idea that I found
on Pinterest, which led my back to this cute lil tutorial over at The Happy Housewife.

Lucky for me my mom had dropped off all sorts of odds and ends for a garage sale I had last summer and I tucked some of the mismatched candlesticks away for future use.I had no idea what I was going to use them for until I came across this genius idea and just in time for Landon's birthday too!

I wanted a tiered look so I chose two candlesticks of
different height and spray painted them. I found the plates at Target, which ended up
being super convenient because their logo is already centered on the bottom of
the plate.You know exactly where to
glue :)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

My birthday was yesterday but festivities started two days
ago when my little sisters showed up on my doorstep, unannounced.Landon and I had just gotten home from the
park and were in the middle of lunch when the doorbell rang.When I looked through the peephole all I
could see was a present being held up against my door.My jaw hit the floor when it turned out to be
my sisters, who live three hours away.And they brought me things like Swedish Fish, tights, whole bean coffee,
bubble bath, earrings, and CAKE. German Chocolate cake surrounded by cake pops.Ummmmm, yeah I think they have me figured out
:)

{Landon did NOT want his picture taken!!}

Then my parents showed up (this one was planned) because
they were here to watch my child OVERNIGHT while me and the hubs had our first
ever night away from The Wombat.We
stayed at a cute little Bed and Breakfast.The room we stayed in was called Refresh.

There were Shari's Berries waiting for us when we arrived. We got dressed up and went out to dinner.We took our time eating.We watched a movie from start to finish with
the volume set on something we didn't need to strain our ears to hear for fear
of waking the babe.I slept for TEN
straight hours.I woke up and got to
stay IN bed instead of jumping out to the sound of "mamamamamama" (or
crying) coming from Landon's room.We
had breakfast in bed.I took two bubble
baths in that delightful jetted tub - going to need one of those in our next
house.

It was exactly the sort of break I needed after being a SAHM for almost a year now.I feel very refreshed,and ready to see what adventures this year of my life has in store for
me. I'm guessing it will include many, MANY trips to the zoo via our new season passes courtesy of my parents :)

Friday, February 17, 2012

We like to read at our house.LOVE to, actually.Reading to Landon before bed is already a night time ritual. He loves to put his finger in every singe caterpillar bite. He loves turning the pages. He loves pointing to the pictures. Sometimes he can't get enough, other times he would rather chew on the pages. By reading we are instilling a curiosity which will hopefully grow into alifelong love for books.
My parents always read to me.C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls
Wilder, all of the classics and then some. My dad even managed to rope me into
some Hardy Boys novels (even though Nancy Drew was clearly the superior sleuth).
In the sixth grade I went through a random western phase when I stumbled upon
my dad's complete collection of Louis L'amour's.I read every.single.one. I was the kid who got in trouble for staying up
past bed time reading.Nerd, I know.Now I am 26 years old and my book craving has not subsided
in the least.I read anything and
everything sent my way.And my parents
are still feeding my literary appetite.I get books for Christmas, books when they visit, books when my dad
cleans out his car.

I really hope to influence Landon this same way: to
encourage, to inspire, to ignite a love for reading.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!!!I was so glad it landed on a Tuesday this
year (my hubby has Monday/Tuesdays off).SooooBen gave me the best
presentyou can possibly give a mother of a
teething baby: SLEEP.

When I finally
rolled out of bed I woke up to a Valentine's Day card and these:

Then we headed off to a late breakfast at The Tower Cafe.They are not exaggerating with
their World Famous French Toast claims.To. Die. For.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

It was suggested in a comment on my Peanut Butter Blossom cookie post that I use a chocolate heart in the center instead of a Kiss for Valentine's Day. OMG, how did I miss this on Pinterest? I immediately started looking for another cookie recipe to try out this idea. In the end, I made a couple adjustments to another recipe out of my Hershey's dessert book. I've yet to make anything out of there that I haven't devoured while they werestill cooling loved.

In my quest to find heart shaped chocolates I went with the Reese's Hearts because ONE: They were cheaper and TWO: In my house, no recipe fails if it involves peanut butter.

Heat oven to 375 F. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Add flour and walnuts and beat until well blended. Roll into one inch cookie dough balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet and garnish with your chocolate.

Cut the crepe paper into small sections and cut one side into a top of a heart shape.

Then just glue around in circles, scrunch together and overlap them to get a more flowery look. Do not be discouraged about how sad looking the first layer is, I promise it will look better by the end.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I love PB&C (chocolate) cookies!!! I got this recipe out of my Hershey's cookbook and it rocks. I also usually make them back to back because one bag of Kisses equals two batches (even with me sneaking a few on the side).